Read Water Ghosts: A Novel by Shawna Yang Ryan Free Online

Book Title: Water Ghosts: A NovelThe author of the book: Shawna Yang RyanDate of issue: April 16th 2009ISBN: No dataISBN 13: No dataLanguage: EnglishFormat files: PDFThe size of the: 544 KBEdition: Penguin

Read full description of the books Water Ghosts: A Novel:

I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about this book. When I first started it, the writing style seemed very strange. Present tense, and no quotation marks when people were clearly speaking, almost like one long run-on sentence. But I actually got used to it surprisingly quickly, and helped the book flow so that I seemed to read it faster. Then I was slightly put off and confused by jumping back and forth between years, but after a few times it fit the story as memories shaped the characters. Halfway through I was glad I had given it a chance, and thought it would promise revelations at the ending. And that's where it lost stars. The ending was kind of a let down for me. I get that it may have been making a point about the state of all their lives, the banality and often hopelessness of them, and didn't expect everyone to suddenly win the lottery and ride off on unicorns, but I just wanted something more. A little more closure, I suppose. It was definitely an interesting read; I just wish I felt like I was finished with a good book when it was over, rather than feeling like a read a pretty good middle.

Read information about the author

SHAWNA YANG RYAN is a former Fulbright scholar and teaches in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. Her short fiction has appeared in ZYZZYVA, The Asian American Literary Review, Kartika Review, and The Berkeley Fiction Review. She is the 2015 recipient of the Elliot Cades Emerging Writer award. Originally from California, she now lives in Honolulu.